Visiting Bruges Belgium

I can't believe how fast the time has gone by.  Thanksgiving will be this coming week and then Christmas next month.  I always feel I will get behind my duties if I don't get things done in a timely manner.  Well, this year it must have already effected me since I already have my artificial Christmas up and decorated in the foyer and it's not even Christmas yet!

Enough said about that - as you may know I was away on vacation last month.  I had the great opportunity to visit Bruges Belgium.  It is a lovely city.

 

I was on a cruise ship that actually docked in Zeebrugge for the day.  Zeebrugge is an industrial port and not scenic whatsoever. Our options were to book a tour via the ship, buy a shuttle ticket for like 14 Euros each to take us to the city of Blankenberg where we would have to take a train to get to Bruges or get a private taxi.

Well, my daughter and I are always budget minded when it comes to traveling but since there was three of us (my little grandson included), we opted for the taxi and we were so happy that we did.  The one way trip into the city of Bruges was 50 Euros.  It's about a 20 to 30 minute ride depending upon the traffic.  The taxi driver was so nice that when he dropped us off at the town center, he booked a time to pick us up at the same place.

Bruges has to be one of my favorite cities.  It's not that large but it is very picturesque.  We took a canal boat ride that was very enjoyable.

 We had arrived prior to lunch time and after walking around the city we were getting hungry.  We found a lovely old hotel/restaurant that was featuring a fixed price lunch for 19.50 Euros.  It was beautiful inside.

 

It felt like we were dining "inside" a Belgium tapestry.  It turns out that the building was originally a tanner's home from the 1600's.  The interior of the restaurant had been designed and decorated by designers from the local art institute back in the 1960's.

The food and service were excellent.  We had a choice of soup or wild boar pate for our first course.  I chose the wild boar pate and I wasn't disappointed.

Bruges has something for everyone.  There are lots of beautiful lace shops (where I bought some hand made bobbin lace), delicious chocolate shops, souvenir shops and also many shops featuring clothes and shoes.  We even popped into a grocery store and bought some speculoos spread to bring home.

 

 After our day in Bruges we walked back to the town square where our taxi arrived promptly on time.  The return trip back to our ship cost 50 Euros but we still felt we had gotten a great bargain since we were able to spend the whole day in Bruges at our leisure.

If you ever get the change to visit this lovely city, I highly recommend that you visit.  During the winter season they have beautiful decorations and wonderful Christmas markets.

Lilly and I want to wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving (Lilly can hardly wait to eat some turkey) and thank you for taking time to visit Lilly My Cat.

Blessings to each of you,

Pat & Lilly, too!

P.S.  Please remember to hop over to Handmade Harbour and check out some great creative ideas made by very talented people!